A game with Shadow- a HoH fanfic
by xBookEaterx
Summary: Based on Rick Riordan's series HoO, sequel to MoA. The two strongest demigods of the era have fallen into Tartarus. What will happen with the rest of the demigods now that the 'glue' that kept them together is gone? And what if Percy and Annabeth were stuck in a dark 'game' in the deepest part of hell? And what if they had to make a pact to have a minimal chance to get out?
1. Demigod optimism

Disclaimer: Yeah, I know. All characters and stuff rights to Rick Riordan...

Gosh! I HATE Rick's cliffhangers! they just keep driving me crazy and stuff for a whole year! Not fair!

So well... yep, for those who wanna keep reading some more about Percy, I'm writing this fanfic and I hope (I really hope) you guys like it :)

Please review!

Annabeth

Annabeth woke up with a searing sensation in her ankle, the bubble wrap around it was gone. Her head and her throat stung. She could barely breathe. She opened her eyes difficultly. She couldn't tell if she had suddenly become blind, because she saw nothing. She blinked. Again, all she could see was darkness. She tried to think straight but her thoughts were strangely tangled up...

Then the memories hit her. Percy had come for her to Arachne's cave, but the monster had dragged her into the pit, straight into... Tartarus? Percy didn't want to let her go... He— he had fallen into the pit too... with her...

She sat, trying to control the nausea. She felt all around her, but she didn't find Percy. Instead, she felt besides her a cloth bundle. Her hands felt warm... it was her backpack! surely enough, she found the knife Luke had gave her... his face swam very clearly in Annabeth's memories, but since she had Percy at her side, the pain of losing Luke had restrained. But, where was the son of Poseidon?

"P— Percy? Where are you?" She blinked again. On the corner of her eye she catched the glimpse of a blue glow in the floor... Riptide. "Percy?" She crawled thither. "Percy?" She didn't get an answer.

She got to Riptide. Next to it she saw someone lying on the floor. She reached for his hand and recognized that little scar from a pit scorpion sting immediately. She gripped his hand tight

"Percy, please... wake up, Seaweed Brain!" She was desperate with fear. She dragged herself closer and felt for his head. His forehead was covered with sweat and something more thick: blood.

"Oh gods, Percy, what have you done?" She felt for a pulse, and there it was, for her relief. She whispered in his ear: "Seaweed Brain, wake up, please. I'm scared" She patted his cheeks and waited for a few seconds, touching his eyelashes to feel when he opened his eyes. He gasped and his eye lids fluttered open.

"W—what?" he said "Annabeth! were are you?!" He tried to get up but Annabeth held him back "Hey, shhh, I'm okay... what happened?"

Percy sighed and put Riptide between them so that he could see her.

"It's fuzzy... I... I cut Arachnne's web and... I don't recall. But I'm glad you're okay. Well... relatively. You know."

"Yes I know. But we're still together. That's what matters. Where are we?"

Percy stood up "I think it was my roll to do the questions but... well... I think we both know this is Tartarus. Or, well, the outside of the outside of the entrance to it. Something like that."

"Damn it"

"Sure. Here's the place of damnation, I think"

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain."

"Okay. I was just trying to crack a joke or something"

Despite herself, Annabeth smiled.

Percy helped her up. She bit her lip to stop the scream of pain that wanted to come out. Percy's eyebrows went cutely scrunched together.

"You sure you can handle it?"

Her heart felt warm and the pain decreased a bit.

"'Course I can Seaweed Brain. Let's kick some monster's butts"

And they walked, mostly limped, all covered in dust and blood but still with their fingers laced, towards the darkest point of the pit.


	2. Sleepy

Disclaimer: All stuff by Rick Riordan belongs to Rick Riordan :)

LEO

Leo was excited. Between all the disgraces he had been living the last few days, Annabeth and Percy's disappearance into Tartarus had been the worst of all. But Leo had found something that might help him to find them.

He had locked himself in his room for two days now. His door signboard read:

_SUPREME COMMANDER OF THE ARGO II WORKING. STEP AWAY. _

_If you wonder about the celestial bronze cable, the knife, Frank's weirdo book and the tacos machine, I didn't take them._

_DON'T BREAK THE SUPREME COMMANDER'S INSPIRATION OF TOTAL AWESOMENESS._

He sat in his sofa, reading one of Archimedes' scrolls, and bit an enormous piece of his taco. The machine —his invention— was awesome. He could eat tacos all day. In the table beside him he put Frank's book. He had never been good at reading, but he had found some crucial information and stuff to activate those spheres... He had to set to work immediately. He stood up and groaned. His back hurt. His eyes stung. His head ached. Whoa. He really needed to sleep. But he couldn't afford to take a nap when he was about to...

To what?

He had forgotten the idea...

His eyes felt so heavy...

Huh, boy, he WAS sleepy...

He didn't notice himself falling to the floor...

He wanted to sleep so badly...

His eyes closed... and he drifted into demigod nightmares.

He didn't wake up when Jason knocked on his door. He didn't open his eyes when the ship shook. He didn't move when cries and fighting were heard aboard.

Nope. Nothing would make Leo wake up at the time. Until...

The door snapped open, forced by lightning. Leo mid-opened his eyes, barely conscious. Jason entered Leo's room. There was rage in his eyes. Then he catched the view of Leo in the floor and rushed forward with a panicked expression on his face . He took him up on his shoulders and ran to Piper's room. He literally threw Leo into the bed and screamed for Piper. Leo's eye lids grew heavier with every second... He watched, confused as she crouched beside him and charmspeaked:

"Leo, you CAN'T give up, okay? You'll get through this... He won't getcha... He won't getcha..."

Then Leo's mind definitly sprinted into darkness.


	3. Of wounds and spiders

I don't own Percy Jackson, sadly.

Annabeth

Annabeth wondered how Nico had survived this. Like... the inexplicable sensation that they were being watched. That they were already dead and in the Fields of Punisment, or something worse. When she was little, she had imagined Tartarus as an enormous dark pit which simply trapped monsters. Now Annabeth could tell firsthand that her childish imaginations were heck far away from the truth. She felt like she was suffocating. It was like she was walking straight into Gaea's trap, but she had no other place where to go. Here, in Tartarus, evil reigned... and she would have to learn to deal with it.

The air smelled like sulfur. Annabeth limped, and Percy put her hand on his shoulder. Annabeth hadn't noticed before, but some kind of gray light was pouring from somewhere. She could see Percy's face clearly now. He was as pale as a ghost. He had his lips pressed together and looked forward with determination. But Annabeth could tell something was wrong. The bruise on Percy's forehead looked horribly purple in contrast with his skin. And he walked kind of funny. Annabeth also noticed a trail of blood that was left behind him.

"Percy... are you okay?"

"Yep. "

" Aha. And I'm Hades. I don't even know why I asked. Where's the wound?"

She knew Percy was holding back a gasp of pain. She could see it in his eyes. He noticed she was watching him for any sign of weariness and looked at her innocently, like saying I'M NOT HURT, AND I'M NOT LYING TO YOU WHEN I SAY I'M OKAY! HECK! I FEEL AS GOOD AS A GOD! But before she could say anything else, Percy blurted almost like against his will:

"I— I think someone's following us" And with that, he crumbled unconscious to the floor. Annabeth srceamed when she saw the huge bleeding gash in his back. His shirt was tattered. Annabeth crouched beside him and cursed. Why hadn't she noticed he was wounded? That stupid Seaweed Brain... he hadn't told her... She examined him more closely. The skin of his back was near to cut to shreds. He was all covered in blood. Annabeth sensed for more wounds and held her breath. She almost thanked Percy was unconscious when she touched his broken left forearm.

"βλακας!" she cursed herself for forgeting the ambrosia she carried in her backpack. She took a piece and chewed it. She felt better. Then she put a big piece in his mouth— not too much though. She hadn't lived all those quests with Percy to end up with him getting burnt by some god food.

"Oh, Percy. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because he's an idiot of a Half-Blood" A deep voice said. Annabeth jumped and reached for her knife " In the end, I get my revenge, daughter of Athena... and I shall take the son of Poseidon for my mistress!"

She turned to face Arachnne, who walked fast and straight to her. Annabeth put herself between Percy and the Spider-goddess.

"YOU ARE NOT GETTING HIM, YOU STUPID MAT WEAVER!"

Okay... perhaps that was not the best thing for her to say, because Arachne just laughed and sent a web string straight to her ankle and yanked her forward. She saw a white blur and felt a horrible rush of pain through all her body. _Curse Arachne_, she thought. She heard someone yell, maybe herself. She heard the nasty rattle of spider legs in the stone floor of Tartarus. And then her mind slid in the most absolute darkness.


	4. Trapped

Piper

After the gryphons had come, they had noticed Leo's absence on deck. Jason had knocked on Leo's door, but there had been no answer. So Jason knocked the door off with thunder and found Leo spattered unconscious on the floor. He just wouldn't wake up, and Jason panicked. He had taken Leo to Piper's room and called her. Piper ran thither with a lump in her throat. What could have possibly happen that would make Jason's voice sound as shaky?

Surely enough, Piper panicked as well, she immediately noticed there was something wrong. There was an evil force pulling Leo's mind into oblivion, so she opened Leo's eye lids and forced him to, sort of, look at her.

"Leo. Wake up." She pleaded with her charmspeak "Whoever it is, he won't getcha. He won't getcha... He won't..." She kneeled there for what seemed ages, but Leo didn't wake up. However, relief ran through her whole body when Leo's breathing grew steadier.

"Hey, Repair Boy... please, wake up your annoying little brain..."

Leo's eyelids trembled, but he did not wake. Instead, his expression changed, as if he was having an extreme nightmare. He started screaming, mumbling in Spanish, and— this hurt Piper to see the most — he started crying. He turned in the bed and punched the pillow with an unusual strength.

"Mom! Please... no! Come back! He will not..." His mouth closed, and his fists fell limp...

Worried, Piper felt for a pulse. There it was, thanks to Olympus.

Those thirty minutes were a damn nightmare for Piper. She had asked the others to leave her alone. It had been more of a charmspeak but still... She wanted to be alone for a few minutes. And take care of Leo.

She needed to think and calm herself down.

But she was going crazy with fear. The last few days all she had felt was dread. Percy, the hero of Olympus, and Annabeth, the amazing genious and warrior who had searched for him so long, were gone into Tartarus. Leo, her maniac best friend was laying unconscious in her bed. The image of the pale, serious guy who didn't react and didn't open his eyes didn't fit with the crazy, annoying Leo she knew. She was missing him yelling stupid phrases and blowing things up. Leo being quiet for so long was... awkward.

Someone knocked on the door and turned the knob. Piper flinched, but it was just Jason. Phew. Piper let the air leave her lungs.

"Hey, easy, Beauty Queen..." He looked at Leo "How's he going? It's... no biggie, right?"

"Nope. Well, at least I hope so. You know, we're talking about _Gaea_"

The sole name seemed to drain all the energy out of him.

"Huh, yeah. Gaea." He sat in the bed and shook his head "To be honest, Pipes, I think fighting against her is no use, now"

"What. Are. You. _TALKING_. About?"

"Gaea, I mean."

"Duh."

"Yeah, well, she will awake and all of us will die"

"Whoa— hang on..." She started to say.

" Percy and Annabeth are probably dead by now..."

"Jason, STOP." His mouth , how Piper _loved_ when she could shut up people just like that. "Gaea is trying to upset you! She wants to destroy your hopes! Don'tyou get it? You are our leader, so she wants you to desperate. Don't let her get away with it..." There was an uneasy silence.

"Huh... well " Piper doubted a little "You can speak, now. Say. Argue. Complain. Not too much? Please?" This was no charmspeak.

"What about Percy? " He asked.

"What's with Percy? He fell into .RUS."

"Yes, yes. I ." He remarked as well. " It's just that... he would have been able to fight her. He would have known who's behind Leo..."

"Huh, actually" Nico's voice said at the the door. Piper hadn't seen him come in "I think it would have been Annabeth who would have known all that. Percy CAN be _SO_ clueless sometimes... sometimes." Piper had jumped at the sound of his cracked voice. She saw him leaning in the frame of the door, looking pale and fragile, but he still had that powerful aura glowing all around him. His black eyes seemed darker and deeper. Nevertheless, he aimed to crack a smile. He failed. To be just a thirteen-fourteen-year-old, he was as scary as hell. Well, that was kindda logic, given the fact that he was the son of Hades.

He suddenly rushed towards Leo, limping a little."I stopped feeling his aura" He said shakily. Piper stood up, worried, and Jason almost electrocuted everybody in the room. Nico raised his hand. "Please. Step back." He felt for a pulse in Leo's wrist; he shook his head; then he put a hand on his forehead and the temperature in the room seemed to descend about twenty degrees. Nico pursed his lips and closed his eyes. About thirty seconds passed before he opened his mouth again, speaking hoarsely. "Huh, there you are. It's this way. Sure, no biggie. Nope. NOPE."

What was all that about? Piper thought. Coach Hedge, Hazel and Frank entered the room, looking tired. They where about to say something, when they noticed the weird scene: Nico was still talking in hushed tones, as if he wasn't aware that they were there.

"You could try," he was saying "but you are way too annoying, they say" Everyone watched in disbelief as Nico— the terrifying kid threw his head back and laughed loudly. The very scene was creepy, with him having his eyes closed and all, but Piper liked his laughter. Suddenly Nico didn't seem so... _dead._

After a few minutes, Nico opened his eyes and crumbled into the nearest chair. Hazel rushed to his side, but he waved her off with a tiny smile. "I did my job well for once" He said with a satisfied voice and he started snoring in her shoulder.

"WHAT. THE. HECK. WAS. THAT. ALL. ABOUT. YOU. CUPCAKES?" Coach Hedge said, but before anyone could answer, Leo moved. He gasped. _He's alive_, Piper thought relieved.

Hazel's face lit up, but she said with a grave voice. "Hum... guys... does anyone know how to drive this ship? I don't think we can—"

A voice interrupted her. Piper's blood went all cold, running through her veins as she heard Gaea's raspy voice:

_My servant has done his work well, indeed... _

_My little pawn is in my hands now, naive demigods..._

__"Shut up!" Frank shouted "Bring Percy b—"

_KAAABOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!_

He didn't finish the sentence. There was a loud crash, and a dark shadow with big owlish eyes tackled Piper and grabbed Leo's neck... there was an explosion and then Piper's mind slid into darkness...

She could only hear Gaea's laughter:

_fragile... and weak..._

_...so weak..._


	5. Cold lips

Please review!

Whatever people said about how horrible hell was, Percy was sure it wasn't as bad as how it _really_ was.

He hated himself for fainting so stupidly when Annabeth needed him. His eyes snapped open, and he shouted because of the searing pain in his back. He saw a spider climbing up his chest. Her tiny eyes watched him with fury. Percy moved painfully and snapped it away. Just then, he watched a horrible scene a few feet away. Annabeth was spattered on the floor, her eyes closed. Percy could see the track of tears across the ash that covered her face.

Arachne was drawing nearer to Annabeth, her pincers rattling, her eyes full of hatred. She walked in circles around Annabeth. A drop of a dark substance fell on Percy's hand. At first, he thought it was blood, but when he felt the rush of energy going down his wounded spine, he knew it was water. A bit muddy, yes, but at least water. He carefully stood up, trying not to scream again or to do any noise.

Riptide was in his pocket, ready to be used. He saw Annabeth pursing her lips, feeling Arachne's presence, but unable to move. Percy slowly sneaked up on Arachne and drew his sword.

Now, if you've ever thought that an angry spider could be harmless and just smashed away with your shoe, forget that stupid idea.

When Percy aimed to stab Arachne's back, he felt a sting in his bloody arm. He looked down. Eight tiny eyes looked angrily at him. A hot sensation started burning his insides. Arachne turned, her pincers rattling.

"So, the son of the sea god... Perseus Jackson... They say you are brave, fierce and strong..." She smiled "But so am I"

Hundreds of spiders started approaching him from nowhere. That annoying ithcy sensation grew unbearable. Percy backed. His vision blurred for a second. Spiders started climbing his legs and biting his ankles. Arachne continued to smile.

"Let me introduce you to my daughters. Unlike other gods, I do not forget them."

Percy's tongue felt like a rag. Nevertheless, he made an effort to reply. His brain didn't want to invent any inteligent answers, as usual, so what came out was something like:

"That's nonsense! You do forget them. And... and... yes! they die in more painful ways than us demigods! let ME introduce you to MY SHOE!" He started dancing all around the place something like Gangnam Style, crushing as much spiders he could under his feet. Arachne screamed. She was furious. Spiders attacked with renewed strength, almost killing Percy, but he didn't even care. Even without the spiders, he already felt like he was almost dead. He was already living his own hell. He would die, and he didn't care, except for...

Percy wheeled around and watched terrified as Arachne wrapped her web around Annabeth's ankle, and twisted. Annabeth opened her eyes, a mad glint shining in her pupils. She mouthed to Percy, RUN!

That was one of the weird moments when you feel like everything's going in stop motion. Percy's mind raced with thoughts. Annabeth was absolutely crazy if she thought Percy would let her die, after all the things they'd lived together, after him falling into Tartarus with her because he loved her... she was MAD. Didn't she remember Percy's fatal flaw was loyalty? Percy would give his live for the person he loved. HE WOULD.

He rushed forward. Arachne sent a string straight to his arm. Percy cut it and dodged, over the floor full of angry spiders.

More bites and venom.

He had bruises all over his body. Annabeth was crying and screaming of horror. A black widow was climbing her face. Anger rushed through Percy's soul.

"Hey you! YES YOU! Big-fat-ugly-misshapen-mat-weaver! You know what? I bet you would be able to make more things than bath mats if you were LESS ugly and MORE, MUCH MORE INTELIGENT!"

Arachne's shape glowed. "YOU. ARE. _SO._ DEAD!"

"Maybe!" Percy screamed as he dodged. Everything was going... uh... more or less good.

Then he got hit by something straight in his jaw. Everything turned a shade of red. His ears rang. That high-pitched sound made him angrier.

"DAMN IT!"

He heard Arachne laughing at his inside's pandemonium.

Riptide glowed. Everything turned gray.

Percy didn't know how he did it, but in the darkness that had covered his eyes, he slashed Riptide wildly. He stabbed to whatever got close to him. He heard Annabeth many feet away, so he wasn't scared of what he cut the head to. He slashed and stabbed. He heard Annabeth scream again.

He stabbed again.

And again.

And...

PFFFFFFFFFFLK! dust—acid, basically— entered Percy's nostrils. He coughed, but by the bad smell and the dust, he knew somehow that Arachne was gone. For now.

He opened his was lying on the floor, and trembling like a hypothermic soaking wet cat. The cave was silent. It's just that he still heard that bothering high-pitched note thrilling his ears. He raised a weak hand and touched his jaw. Ow. That would look bad very soon.

He tried to focus. Something was missing. Of course!

The floor was covered in monster slime and dust. Percy could see a few spider legs over here, more over there... He saw nothing else. Wait. Right at the far end of tha cave he saw a struggling bulk in the floor. His head was still spinning.

"Percy?" Annabeth's scared voice echoed. His tongue felt like a mop. He said "Uh-huh?"

"You idiot!" Annabeth most have felt a whole lot more confident now, so she dared to scream lovely things, which I cannot repeat. But, making it short, she scolded Percy " ARE YOU MAD? ARE YOU WAITING FOR A NEW BRAIN FOR YOU TO HELP ME SEAWEED BRAIN? HURRY UP!"

Percy wanted to laugh, but his stomach ached. He stood up, warily. After he slowly cut the cobwebs that covered Anabeth, she stood up in one foot and pushed his chest with her index finger "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING WHEN YOU DIDN'T TELL ME HOW BAD YOU WHERE WOUNDED?! You nearly got us killed! YOU could have died! Now you have these nasty spider bites on all your body and a black widow almost KILLED ME!"

Percy felt useless. That was the word. He had put them both in danger by passing out so stupidly. And now they were both now even more wounded. Percy suddenly felt like they wouldn't be able to make it out of Tartarus alive or sane. He lowered his head and grumbled in a raspy voice:

"I'm sorry. Guess I messed it again like in the old times?"

"Seaweed Brain you ALWAYS mess EVERYTHING UP" She leaned forward and kissed him softly in the lips. Percy felt better. He almost forgot the sensation of the venom rushing through his veins for a moment. Suddenly Annabeth pulled back with a scared expression.

"Percy! Your lips are cold! Like REALLY cold! How do you feel?"

"Fine."

"No you're not"

"But I have to be."

"you always say that and you're wrong!" She started pacing the cave, looking for something. She found it: it was her backpack. "I can't believe I was such a jerk. I had forgotten about this" She took out of her backpack a ziploc bag with tiny squares of ambrosia. Percy slid to the floor with his back against the wall. Annabeth sat next to him. They chewed a square of the god food. Just one. Percy had the feeling they would need a lot of it later. The itchy sensation almost dissapeared, Although his lips were still very, very cold. His other bruises still hurt, but less than before. He held Annabeth's hand and she lay her head in his shoulder—the wounded one, but he didn't care— and said.

"Lets rest. We need it"

"I'll take the first watch"

Annabeth was still trembling a little from her encounter with Arachne, so she agreed. She curled in a ball with her head resting in Percy's lap.

"Hmph"

Percy stroke her hair. "Rest." He said "I'm here. Right next to you."

She was almost asleep when she mumbled

"Percy?"

"Aha?"

"I love you, you know that, right?"

He felt a warm sensation all over his body. "Yes. I love you too Annabeth"

She smiled.

A few seconds passed in silence until Percy finally dared to say what bothered him "Annabeth, to be honest I don't think we can stay sane much longer. I already feel like giving up. I don't want to end up feeling like you are a delusion."

But Annabeth was already asleep.

**You know? I really appreciate comments… (get the hint?) Thank you for reading!**


	6. Deathly Friendly

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters **by Rick Riordan.**

I warn you: this is a weird chapter, very 'out' of Riordan's **business, really. I kinda felt like giving Leo his own weird and sort of romantic chapter. It's not that good, but still… I warned you, okay? Now, get on with the reading. Enjoy!**

xBookEaterx out.

Leo

The first thing that dawned in to Leo was that he was flying somehow, and that neither he knew why, nor he cared.

He felt as light, as if he was acting in one of those Light Cranberry Juice's commercial. He opened his arms and smiled, enjoying the feeling of not being touched by pain. He didn't know where he was, but— yet again, he didn't care in the least. Above him, he saw nothing. Just darkness. To his right and left, down below, he could see gray fields, with gray people in them. He wanted to go down and have a long, nice chat. Perhaps he would have the chance to make up some mess...

While he was descending, he caught the eye of a silver glint, right down to the front. He saw a river.

Suddenly, some kind of force pulled Leo backwards, but he didn't resist. He felt happy, somehow. He entered a dark cave. Everything was almost black, but Leo just kept grinning. He could see a bleak river flowing a few feet away from him. He was about to start wandering all over the place, when he felt a cold _something_ in his shoulder and he turned. A gauzy woman was staring intently into his eyes. Hers were gray, and sad, and looked puffy, as if she had been crying for a long time. Her hair was messy and untidy, and she wore a torn, dirty jacket. Right behind her, Leo could see dozens of people walking or flying into the cave. For the first time, he noticed they were sort of transparent. They seemed to be flesh and blood, but they were fuzzy.

"Hey!" Leo grinned "Guys, I think you used too much bleach when you took your bath!"

No one laughed, except a girl with very long hair and blue eyes that was sitting in a nook of the cave. Seeing that no one, except the woman and the girl seemed to notice him, he walked away, towards the blue-eyed _chick_. She saw him approaching and hid her face in her hands. Still, Leo could see she was blushing. Her hands were white— like, really, really deathly white and very delicate. Leo saw that she was wearing a hospital gown. He felt a rush of confidence and sat next to her.

"Wazzup?"

She looked at him, mystified, and leaned her head to the right. Leo thought he had talked too quickly.

"Hey, what's your name?"

"Huh?" She said.

" What's your name?" he repeated.

"Teresa" She said with a soft, pure and sweet voice. Her accent, though, was more harsh than his. She must be english, he thought. She smiled warmly at him "And you are...?"

Leo stood up and put his best stupid face, grinning at her. "Leonardo Valdez!..." Then he tried to recall "or at least that's what I think I'm called... Your name, did you know Teresa comes from the Greek 'hunter'?" he said feeling nerdie.

She laughed. "Well, you can call me a hunter of trouble!"

They talked of lots of crazy things for what seemed ages. Literally. Leo noticed the sun wouldn't raise, and the happy feeling slowly started to be replaced with some kind of fear.

Despite that, he was enjoying this conversation very much. He couldn't even remember what they had said five minutes after they had said it, but still, it felt... just right...

"…so then you replace it and BAM! Problem solved!"

The girl laughed " Yeah!, then you could go and trip over the cat, and you would get your six lives left!" They laughed loudly and braced their stomach. The cave was still silent, still gaunt, but there, Leo thought he was laughing harder than he had in a long time. That was kinda stupid, right? When they stopped laughing, Teresa said "You know? You remind me of someone. It's weird that I say this, but I feel as if I already knew you, somewhere, once"

Leo felt thrilled. Then he felt a strange lump in the mouth of his stomach. He knew this was a strange sensation. He felt like he had caught some kind of flu. Whether he was getting sick, or he felt some sort of connection to Teresa. The very situation was very... unusual, but he could sense that Teresa also liked him. The thought sent a warm feeling from his toes to his nose. Teresa laced her hand with his as if they had known each other like— forever. Leo turned to face her. He opened his mouth to speak, when a voice echoed in the cave.

"How did you die?" Leo saw a man with a cloak standing in a boat and reaching his hand to the woman of the old clothes. _Wait_, Leo thought, _did he said... die?_ He turned to Teresa, she seemed to have gotten to the same conclusion than him.

"Are we _dead_?" She asked with a shaky voice. Leo felt like... he didn't even know how to feel. He realized that until now, he didn't remember who he was and he hadn't had any interest in that info... Just then, three names came to his mind and unleashed a torrent of memories that poured into his head.

_Annabeth._

_Percy._

_Piper._

_...Echo._

He remembered everything... or at least most of his life. He just knew he was missing some names... Ja— what was his name? Ja-something. He knew him, but he couldn't quite remember why or how... or even who he was. He remembered most parts of the last few days...even those strange nightmares he'd had before feeling like trapped in his sleep... feeling so weak that he had felt like dying...

Or did he really die?

Well, that wasn't much worse than fighting against Gaea... Plus, when he was alive, he felt as if he was nothing. Here he felt sort of happy... And he could fly like Peter Pan! like KOOCHAOO! just think of flying and plop! you're in the air! It was useless of thinking to live again, Leo thought. Once dead, you are always dead. But what about Hazel? She was an escapee... Perhaps he could try... Nah, he wouldn't try to go back.

The woman answered to the man of the boat "Car accident"

"Hum..." he mumbled, still extending his hand "So... have you got any drachma?" The woman reached him one.

"Do you mean this golden thing I found over there?" she gestured towards her right.

Leo's mind started thinking clearly— at last. One name plopped into his mind when he observed the man in the cloak.

Charon. The ferryman of Hades who carried the souls of dead people across the River Styx...

He held Teresa's hand in his. "We are going in" He said. She looked scared, but she pursed her lips and followed him.

"Hey!" Leo said "Mr. Charon, right? nice... eh... cloak. You look _awesome_. Can we get in?"

Charon shook his head. "Do you have a drachma?"

"A... OH! ah, you mean... ehem... no."

"Then you can't come in" He simply said.

"Hey! it was a joke!" Leo handed him two drachmas. Charon didn't even smile and took the coins. Leo suddenly realized he didn't have his magical tool belt on. Damn. That really pissed him. "so..." He said "Are we in?"

Charon nodded. "Get on"

Leo held Teresa's hand and helped her into the boat. He was about to step in, when a voice called him.

"Huh, there you are!" Leo was sure he knew this gothic guy with the skull ring...

"Hey!... uh... Nico, right?"

He nodded, and pointed at a bright spot that had suddenly appeared at the end of a tunnel Leo hadn't seen.

"It's this way" Nico said.

"Are you gonna help me?" Leo asked.

"Sure, no biggie"

"Am I not going to hell?"

"Nope."

"So... that means I can't make some mess in here" he guessed.

"NOPE" Nico said, but he was smiling.

"But I wanna rest, if that is possible. I want to become a calm guy, with a calm life..." Then he thought that was stupid. HE WAS DEAD. AND CRAZY. So he rolled his eyes and added "...or whatever"

"You could try," Nico said "but you are way too annoying, they say"

"WHAT?!" Leo blushed "I'm... I... Oh! Man! Not fair! Am I that annoying that not even hell can stand me?"

Nico laughed. Like— really, really hard. Leo had never heard him laugh. Maybe he was not such a weird man, just a... son of Hades, which is kind of freaky but... ah, whatever.

"Leo, it is time for you to come back. Please. Piper misses you already, and let's not talk about Hazel"

In other circumstances, Leo would have felt so happy of hearing that that he would be blowing stuff up, but right now... he couldn't tell. He turned to see Teresa. With her hospital gown, she looked so pale. She mouthed "Gonna leave?"

Leo tried to think straight. He didn't want to continue fighting and feeling like centaur poop whenever the rest of the heroes were 'round... But they where his friends, and so was this girl... The dead already seemed more real for him than his old life...

A sudden idea plopped into his mind:

"What if I can go find Percy and Annabeth from here?"

Nico grimaced "There's no way you can find them, believe me. Leo, you still got plenty of things to do, fix and enjoy in the land of living"  
_He's got a point_, Leo told himself. He watched his thin and large hands and noticed they were also sort of transparent. Not too much, though. He felt an impulse to try something...

A flame flickered in his hand. He felt a rush of an unexpected vitality. He hadn't noticed the absence of that feeling until he felt it again. Life. Energy was pouring through his veins as Nico approached and took him by the shoulder.

"Come on, buddy. Time to go home. Let's go see Festus"

_Festus_. How could Leo have forgotten him so easy?

_Not again_, he thought. _I'm not gonna lose Festus again_.

A wave of images flooded him. He saw Annabeth trapped in cobwebs. Percy curled in a ball in the floor of a cave, blood covering his face and with stings in all his body. He looked in bad shape. They were both covered in blood. They had a mad glint in their eyes: Tartarus was already getting through them. That could be anything but good. Leo somehow knew he had to come back and search for them. He would never be able to cross the Underworld straight into Tartarus.

With a determined look, he turned to see Teresa and waved. "I'll come back! Be sure of it!" Leo even thought he would still die young, so it was no biggie... It pained him to leave Teresa, but still, suddenly coming back felt just right. Teresa seemed to understand, but when Leo turned his back to her to follow Nico, she screamed:

"Leo!"

"Yeah?"

"Are you some sort of Greek hero, like the ones of the movies?"

"Huh... ?"

"I think I saw, or I dreamed something like that when I was... at the hospital. And you've got sort of the features I imagined of the Greeks of the stories I read."

Leo smiled. She was smart. "Well, I am. Although I don't have the Greek physical features, to be honest..." he showed her limp biceps with a HEY BABE smile, and Teresa laughed. Nico touched his shoulder. It was time to go, and Leo turned to face Teresa, with a mix of sadness and happiness in his face "Just saying... I was very happy to meet you... even if we were dead." he joked.

She laughed "Me too!" She shouted as Nico and Leo walked away. "Just... take care! or not too much" She grinned. "Forget it" she waved, and Charon started rowing the boat, until Teresa's shape was lost in the darkness. Leo sighed and said to Nico:

"Funny. I can make friends, but they never seem to last very long. Not even in the Underworld." Just then, he turned, and saw that there was no one next to him. He explored with his view his surroundings, but he found himself in a white tunnel. So, now all that was left was to walk to whatever direction he could, trying to find a way out.

After walking for what seemed ages, Leo heard a voice. It was more like a conscience caressing his, but screaming in a loud voice _Leo! Wake up! We need you!_ The voice sounded like Nico's. The world seemed to be upside down, and he felt a hard cramp in the stomach. Like he was going to vomit. Leo fell to the floor. He heard a deafening KABOOOM!

And he fell into darkness.

A few minutes passed before he could make out the world around him. His eyes snapped open. He choked as he felt something dragging him, taking him by the throat across a half destroyed floor. Spots were dancing in front of his eyes. The hand was clutching his throat so hard it hurt, and he couldn't breathe. He tried to think. He grabbed a stick and he stabbed the stranger's hand with it. There was a yell and the hand released Leo. He gasped for air and filled his lungs with... gods! This was no air! It was all smoke! He coughed, but some smoke was better than no oxygen. He quickly stood up, stick in hand, and caught the eye of a dark figure standing s few steps away clutching his hand. Leo stared at those owl-like eyes with shock.

"Hey! Owly! I think you should get claws instead of those girly hands!"

Owly turned with rage in his eyes and charged. That face, covered in a dark mask except fo the eyes, unnerved Leo, but he had seen plenty of weird and scary stuff to be really scared of this guy. He grabbed his stick with both hands and dodged a stab from his opponent. He turned, slashed, stabbed. In one of those moments, Owly dropped his guard, and Leo took the chance: He stabbed Owly straight in the stomach. His enemy shouted in pain and dropped the blade.

"You'll regret this, son of Hephaestus! You and all your friends! The pawn will suffer a painful dead... and you shall follow!"

Then he ran.

Leo didn't even follow. He wandered all over the place and found his friends spattered on the floor. Nico was crushed between a bed, a chair and Hazel. That's when Leo recognized the furniture. The high-tech buttons in the doors, the dove in that bed, the drawings on the walls... He was in Piper's room. Other three immobile bodies were there, in the ashy floor. Oh, gods. He recognized two of them.

_Oh, gods._

He was in the Argo II.

Or what was left of it...

The Argo II was destroyed.

ME: MUAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAA

LEO: you distroyed my ship.

ME: OOOPS

LEO: no, you didn't. Tell me you didn't.

ME: ...

LEO: Man! that's so not fair! You got ANY IDEA how many months I spent working on that mother warship?

PERCY: He's got a point, you know? I'm hungry.

LEO AND ME: Percy! you're supposed to be on TARTARUS!

PERCY: okay, okay, hey man, it's not fair either! you know? it's cold and wet, and you can't sleep or go to the bathroom or...

LEO: okay. GOT IT. I'm going off to fix my ship (evil glare) AND YOU! **BACK TO READING! **


	7. Of Ships and Drills

**Okay kids, so take your notebooks out and write 5,000 times: All rights to Rick Riordan.**

**In this chapter I wanted to show the teen side the demigods posses. Please Review!**

**Happy reading!**

Jason

If you'd ever thought that Leo's instant tacos mixed with ambrosia would taste good, I'm a Fury. But in fact, they did. Jason awoke feeling like he was in the Elysium of tacos. His eyes popped open and he saw Leo cackling as he wiped Jason's chin.

"Beware the almighty son of Zeus, who might just blast you with his lightning toys!"

"Shut up!" Jason blurted, which reassured what Leo had just said. Jason tried to stand up, but he fell back, with his ears ringing. "What happened? Wait. Leo! Weren't you supposed to be dead or something?"

Leo turned "Man! No need to be rude! What's your name again?"

"Don't be a clawn, _mijo_."

"Hey! I'm serious! It's in the tip of my tongue, but I can't remember! I mean, I know you... You are Ja-something. It's just that your name's vanished from my mind."

Something told Jason Leo wasn't joking. "Jason. It's Jason."

"Oh, yes! That was it, I knew it" Leo stood up again and walked a few steps to Jason's right. It suddenly dawned on Jason that he wasn't in the Argo put a bit of ambrosia in Piper's mouth.

"Hey Leo! What happened? Where's the Argo II?"

Leo made a sour face and pointed somewhere at Jason's left. Outside of the clearing, crunched and smoking, where the splinters of what once had been the Argo II. "Oh, gods..." A lump formed in Jason's throat. "Wha—? Leo, what happened?" He asked in a weak voice "Where's the Athena's Parthenos?"

Leo clenched his jaw "That thing was the only one that remained _intact._ I hid it in the woods."

"How?"

"A son of Hephaestus can always have his way with non-organic-life-forms"

"What?"

"Never mind. As to what happened, I don't quite know how you crashed my ship, but I woke up at someone's attempt of killing me." Jason's jaw dropped as he waited for Leo to say more. Leo didn't say anything further, and Jason didn't push. The Argo II was like Leo's life, _and if it is destroyed,_ he thought, _Leo's mood must be in terrible conditions as well..._

With lots of effort and a huge wave of nausea, Jason stood up and saw around. Thanks to the gods, there they were lying on the grass; unconscious, but safe and sound: Piper, Coach Hedge, Frank, Hazel and Nico. Leo put a piece of ambrosia in everyone's mouth, and felt their forehead.

"Hey mom, how long was I out?" Jason mocked.

Leo flinched at the nickname. "About four hours. And DONT CALL ME THAT."

"Okay, sorry, Repair Boy"

"Better, although I think I'll lose my title if I cannot fix Festus again." Leo grimaced. "The main area of the engine is not that extremely destroyed, but still I'll need lots of things and time to fix the Argo II. Just hope that no stupid monsters decide to attack in twenty-four hours" Leo waved "I'll come back in five. I'll just go check Festus." And he disappeared into the trees with a grim look on his face.

Jason decided not to follow. Perhaps Leo needed some time alone. Instead, he crouched beside Piper "Hey, Beauty Queen."

Piper's eyes fluttered open. "Sparky." She sighed. Then she lifted a hand and brushed his cheek with her thumb. "What happened?"

"We crashed. Now the Argo II needs fixing."

Piper pulled a face "Stupid _immortales"_ she groaned. A thunder crossed the sky.

"Be careful, Pipes. Gods can be our parents, but they can still blast us to death"

"Huh. What a beautiful family we've got... "

Jason laughed. He watched Piper as he helped her to get up. Oh, how he wanted to kiss her right now... Piper smiled playfully, as if she was thinking the same thing. Oh boy, she looked beautiful in the sunlight. All those little bruises and cuts in her face were already healing, but somehow, they made Piper look even more pretty to Jason. The fact that she was a daughter of Aphrodite and yet she had never screamed for her appearance ment a lot to Jason. _That's my Pipes._

"What are you thinking?" she asked.

Jason smiled "Oh, not much, really. Just thinking of how lucky I am that you are my girlfriend."

Piper's smile grew wider. She took his hand. "Well, then... you must know I was thinking 'how lucky I am that I love you' " Jason blushed and his heart raced as Piper stood on her tiptoes, putting her face an inch apart from his. Her breath smelled like cinnamon. Jason cupped her chin in his hands and kissed her softly. His insides melt like they did every time Piper kissed him. He stroke her hair, putting his love in the kiss more intensely and yet sweetly than ever. They stood there, holding each other for what they hoped would be forever, but as usual, they were interrupted. This time it was Coach Hedge.

"What are ya DOIN' CUPCAKES! Jason! Thirty laps on the court! McLean! FIVE HUNDRED PUSH UPS! NOW!"

"Coach, there isn't even a court!"

" I DON'T CARE, GRACE! JUST DO IT! I'm gonna beat ya punk if you don't start NOW!"

Jason shot an amused glare at Piper and they both shrugged. Piper smiled. "As you wish, Coach."

Jason started running all around the clearing while Piper did her push ups in the center. They were both laughing hard.

"RUN RUN RUN!" Coach Hedge watched him. "McLean! go higher! stop down! higher! STRENGTH Mclean! STRENGTH!" As they were trained, the rest woke up. Nico was amused. Hazel and Frank were dying of laughter on the floor. Jason turned his head to smile at Annabeth as they always did when Coach made him do drills, when he remembered Annabeth wasn't there anymore. His smile faded for a moment, while the rest kept laughing. He stumbled and everyone laughed harder. He blushed and laughed with them. Piper rested on the floor.

" McLean! WHAT ON HADES ARE YA DOIN'? GET UP! GET UP CUPCAKE! ZHANG! LEVESQUE! THREE HUNDRED SQUATS! NOW!" they stood up and obeyed, still laughing like maniacs. Nico made fun at them in his introverted way because he knew Coach Hedge wouldn't make him do drills. Their laughter rose to the sky, and for a moment, everything seemed just right. They weren't demigods on a deathly mission, with a satyr as a Coach. They were just normal friends laughing as if nothing was wrong.

"DUDE! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" Leo's confused voice asked. He held a spanner in his left hand and with the right he scratched his head. Everyone laughed harder, if that was even possible.

"We're doing AMAZING drills! am I right, Coach?" Jason mocked.

"TEN LAPS MORE, GRACE! VALDEZ! TWO HUNDRED CRUNCHES! DOWN! "

"Whoa— you guys are crazy! I'm gone for one minute and when I come back I find you doing drills!"

"VALDEZ! CRUNCHES!"

"YOU ARE CRAZY AAAH! MOMMY!" And with that he fled waving his arms over his head "Help! they've gone mad!"

Everybody laughed. Coach Hedge frowned. "Did he just call me mad?"

"No Coach! He said you're beautiful!" Piper mocked.

Jason smiled and snorted.

A shadow flew beside his. He stopped running and looked to the sky. His jaw dropped open. Seven huge black owls were spiraling across the sky just above the demigods. Their eyes were flaring red, watching. Waiting. One of them screeched. All the laughter died. Dread pushed it's way subtlily into everyone's heart. Frank walked towards Jason, who didn't leave the sight of the bad omen. "Wha— what are they?" he stuttered.

"Owls. But I don't think they serve my father..."

He didn't have time to say anything else before the owls started glowing and launched into a tailspin against them.

The wind went cold as a voice boomed across the clearing:

_WIDOM'S DAUGHTER WALKS ALONE... THE MARK OF ATHENA BURNS THROUGH ROME!_

He didn't have time either to take out his sword before the red eyes of an owl placed themselves just an inch apart from his.

Those red eyes.

Full of hatred and death.


End file.
